Workplace Safety & Health

Three Department of Labor (DOL) agencies have responsibility for the administration and enforcement of the laws enacted to protect safety and health of workers in America.

People Are Asking

What is the current status of COBRA premium reductions under ARRA?

When is overtime due?

When must breaks and meal periods be given?

How are vacation pay, sick pay, and holiday pay computed and when are they due?

What is the minimum wage?

If an employee suffers an illness and the doctor writes a medical certification that the employee is sick, who pays for this sick leave?

What is ERISA?

Airport Pat-Downs Often Ineffective Security Stop

With all the screening technology at U.S. airports, the last line of defense is still the human hand: the pat-down search.

But aviation experts say the pat-down is often ineffective, in part because of government rules covering where screeners can put their hands and how frequently they can frisk passengers. As a result, even if the man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. jetliner on Christmas Day got an airport pat-down, it probably wouldn't have found the explosives authorities say were hidden in his crotch.

TSA Nominee Under Fire

By Philip Rucker and Robert O'Harrow Jr.Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 2, 2010

Democratic senators rallied around President Obama's pick to head the Transportation Security Administration on Friday as new details emerged indicating that key lawmakers already knew when they voted in November to advance his nomination that he had mischaracterized a personal incident in his testimony.

The White House rushed to defend Erroll Southers, who is under fire for providing inconsistent statements to Congress about inappropriately accessing confidential criminal records 20 years ago about his then-estranged wife's new boyfriend. Democratic senators, meanwhile, intensified pressure to confirm Southers soon after Congress returns from its winter recess, saying it is critical that permanent leadership is installed at the TSA in the aftermath of the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner.